She Speaks

Wow! That’s it. Wow!

Before the Conference

My heart was restless. My thoughts were cloudy. And my confidence was shaky. All the while, I couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong with me. Surely this is weird to be so clumsy. I was late to every appointment and forgot to pick up at least one item that I went to buy at the store. No, I’m not nervous about the conference. I’m just going to go and give two speeches for evaluations. It’s no big deal. It’s not like I’ve never spoken before. So, I thought.

Then, the letter came with confirmations of my reservations and the name of my roommate. Great! You mean, I don’t get my own room? I have to share room with someone else. I hope I don’t have to share the bed too. That’ll just be too weird. Oh, God, what if the sink is in an open room and I have to brush my teeth in front of her? That will just gross her out. I am going to become a total gross out freak. What if she is prejudice against Asians and she doesn’t converse with me? Okay, girl you are freaking me out. Stop it. Stop it. Just stop it. “Lord God, please help me. I pray that the hotel will have a closed up bathroom, that there will be two beds and not one.” Oh, maybe I should pray for my roommate to like me, too. “Lord, I pray that she will like me. Oh, please protect her while she travels to the conference, wherever she’s coming from.”

I hope she’s not my next door neighbor that I just happened not to know her name. Then, if she doesn’t like me, I won’t have to face her again.


The Day of the Conference

The Enterprise driver picked me up and we went to pick up two other persons. The first person was a man, so I didn’t talk much. The next person was a woman. She had pink on. Her luggages were pink, her purse was pink and her shoes (ooops! I don’t remember). Maybe, she’s going to She Speaks, too. I turned around to ask, “so where are you heading?”

“Charleston, to see my daughter,” she said.

Shoot! Too bad. I thought you were going to the She Speaks conference. You look nice enough to maybe even carpool. Then, maybe we can share the cost instead of going in individual cars. Who knows we could’ve been good friends, but too bad. I found out she was a grandma already. So, I turned around and told her she doesn’t look old enough to be a grandma.

On my way back from the rental car, I was about half a mile home and this terrifying thought came over my head; What if you came home and your house burned down and it swept your family members. And, you have no more children and no husband? What will you do? Then, I will have a stronger story to tell, I thought with tears in my eyes. Okay, now you are a total wreck. You’re letting your imagination run wild. “You stop it. My children and husband are under the Lord’s care. He will not let it happen because you can’t handle it. He is a good God.

Finally, I arrived home and my two little girls were dramatic about my leaving and so it became annoying to watch them hung on to me like I was going to drive off the cliff and never returned. You better take some pictures just in case the house does burn down and this is the last time you see them. So, I lined them all up on my couch and took their pictures. My son was upset and didn’t want his pictures taken, so he closed his eyes. I looked at the time and it was a little before 12:00pm. Ooops! I better go. “Okay, kids, hugs and kisses! I got to go.” I opened the door to the garage and realized I have no shoes and no key. I pounded on the door and started to speak Hmong real loud to get my children to open the door.

Sorry, but you’ll just have to wait. I have to take my daughter to help distribute fliers for the VBS. But if you return tomorrow, I’ll continue.

Busy Summer

Dear Readers,

Thank you for your support and encouragements. I know I've not written anything for the last several weeks. I've been busy with personal engagements, but I want you to know everything is well. The Lord has been good.

If you are reading this, perhaps God is directing you here to pray for me and my family. We are all well. Everyone is doing fine and healthy. However, I can use your help in praying for focus.

I promise you are not forgotten. I will come back and continue with our talk on Our Jealous God. For right now, I'm going on a tangent.

This weekend was a mix blessing. My husband has had gout for the last two weeks. So, he couldn't cut the grass. I decided that I was going to cut the grass so it won't look so scary. You know when your neighbors start to dump their coffee cups, napkins, and papers on your yard, you know it is time to cut the grass and trim the trees. So, I proceeded to cut the grass, but I couldn't get the motor running on the lawnmower nor the trimmer. Poor me, right. No poor my husband. He had to walk like a crab outside to get the lawnmower started. I finished cutting the grass and proceeded to trim the weeds, but couldn't get that started either.

After several times of trying to get it started, I prayed, "Lord, help me. I am trying to be a good and supportive wife. But, I can't if you don't help me right now, because I can't get this started. Please, don't make me go get him again. I was sweaty and thirsty and my children were urging me, "mom, that thing doesn't work anymore. Why don't you just go get dad."

"Leave me alone," I said as I turned and proceeded to pull the string one more time. My daughter came out and asked me if she could help me. "Go, get your dad!" I let out a desperate cry. Yes, the poor man came out and got it started the first try. He gave me a strange look that communicates, "It's so easy." I threw my hands up in the air and gave him the look, "yeah, I probably exhausted it enough it was going to cave in anyway." So, now the grass are cut and the weeds are trimmed.

I came inside to prepare dinner. As we were eating lunch, my children asked me what we would do after lunch. "We're going to trim the trees and bushes. Are you going to help me, Honey?" He nodded "yes".

Well, we got our old fashion tools and went outside to cut the trees. He didn't go far and had to go back inside. It was too much for him. So, I went to the front and started to trim the trees in the front yard. I just had lunch so I was not cranky or angry. But, as I was trimming, my neighbor came outside, "excuse me, I just cannot let you do that."

"What?" This is my yard, why are you prohibiting me to cut my own trees?

"I cannot let you cut those with that thing. I can't watch you. I got something better. Just wait a minute, I'll get it." A couple of minutes later, he came out with this long branch trimmer (that's my name for it. I don't know it's name), showed me how it worked. He went back home to eat his dinner and came back out about five minutes later with another tool. Thank goodness for good neighbors, my trees and bushes are nicely trimmed. God showed Himself as He promised in Psalm 34:15. His eyes were on me. He heard my cry for help and He sent my neighbor to lend me his tools . Praise Him and thank Him for His faithfulness.

God bless you all and I will write when I return from She Speaks!

Our Jealous God Part II

“And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17).

Lord, help us to understand Your truth and Your faithfulness to mankind. Deepen our knowledge and wisdom of Your character and Your purpose for our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I’ve been praying since I wrote the last lesson entitled: Our Jealous God. I wanted to understand more of how and why God became so angry with His chosen race. What stirred up His anger? He is after all the God of love and power. In the next several blogs, we are going to uncover the progression of man’s evil deeds.

Let us start with Adam and Eve. In chapter two of Genesis, we are told that God created Adam and gave him specific instructions to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now, first of all He didn’t say that they could not eat from the tree of life. He said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…” I highlighted the word “any” because I wanted you to see that that word includes the tree of life. They could’ve eaten from the tree of life and live forever, but instead, the enemy chose to tempt them with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Why?

It was not an order of the Lord to not do. Had they chosen to eat from the tree of life, they would have lived forever and Satan couldn’t do a thing about it. So, he used the only thing he could to tempt Eve: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which God specifically ordered to not eat. Notice who changed the wording of God’s command. All Satan did was added the word “not”. God said, “you are free to eat from any tree in the garden…” Satan (on ch. 3, v. 1) said, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”. So, if you compare the two sentences, the only difference is the word “not”. And Satan was the one to add that word to it. Satan left everything else intact. How skillful of him. He caused her to doubt first, then to deny the truth.

The second thing I picked up on is how Eve responded: “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” Notice she didn’t specify which tree. God planted two trees in the middle of the garden. God ordered them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of all the trees in the garden, the enemy chose to use the only forbidden tree to tempt Eve. She responded wavering with great desire to taste the fruit and gain knowledge and wisdom.

God gave them the whole kingdom of Eden. They were free to roam around the whole garden and eat whatever they pleased as long as they stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One command. Satan, in his subtlety, tempted them with the only thing God forbid them from doing. Satan caused them to doubt God’s goodness. Then he caused them to deny God’s truth, and finally to rebel against God. And, he has used the same method to this day; we continue to fail today. We bow down to the same temptation. It’s no wonder the author of Proverbs 31:30 said “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised”. To honor God is to show Him respect and obedience.

Be Encouraged!

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Just being away from writing and blog hopping for so long and facing some mild issues in my life has really brought me down and mellow today. Writing today has been very challenging to me. Like one lady said to me, I know the Bible and what it says, I know the principles of positive thinking, but for some reason I’ve just felt very sleepy and mellow. Today, I jumped from a couple of blogs to Godtube.com. The messages are the same, Be Encouraged.

I listened to Kathy Troccoli sang. Ummmmh! What a song. It spoke to my heart. It blesses my heart to know that God is looking down on me. He knows my broken heart and crushed spirit. He’s very closed by and He’s working on bringing me happiness and joy and peace. I’ll let you listen to Kathy’s song and meditate on the scripture above. I will be back to post more. Now I have to go and debug myself. I think it's because I've not opened my window curtain nor drink my tea today. I'm not sure. God sure is good. Enjoy the song.

Abigail's Speech

Reading: 1 Samuel 25:23-31

I’ve been following Rachel Olsen’s Bible study lessons on women of the Bible. I’m always in awe of the roles God called women to play, especially Abigail’s. Go here to read Rachel’s comments:

Since Rachel has done a wonderful job of presenting the overview of the life of Abigail, I want to focus on her speech. I’m intrigued with her speech. So, let’s take it verse by verse.

As soon as Abigail saw David, she wasted no time; she, humbly and quickly, got down with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and began her speech: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be!” (vv. 23-24 NKJV). She was saying, let me take the blame. Now, if you read the verse before, you notice that David was murmuring to his fellow soldiers about how angry he was that Nabal had shown disrespect to him. So, I’m sure Abigail, in her wisdom, noticed the tension David was in-the anger on his face. She humbly dismounted and fell face down to the ground. Immediately pleaded for mercy, putting her life on the line.

So, first she said, let me take the blame alone. Next, she said, allow me-your servant-to speak to you. Hear what I have to say. She didn’t pause, she didn’t stop, immediately went on her next task which was to address Nabal’s foolishness (v.25). She said, “may my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent.” So humble and bold. What she was saying was Nabal was foolish. He was living up to his name. Had Abigail seen the men David sent, they would not have returned to him emptied.

Then, she wasted no time to tell David of his benefits (v.26). God has kept David from bloodshed; anyone who would have fought him would become foolish like Nabal. She addressed two parts on this verse: 1) she said God has kept David from bloodshed. How? Well, she came to him before he reached her home. I’m sure it took time for her to bake all those breads and prepared all those gifts. David, on the other hand, had wasted no time to organize his soldiers for the battle. So, does it take more time to bake or to organize the troop? She packed “200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, 100 cakes of raisins, and 200 hundred cakes of pressed figs” (v.18). Just to count the things she brought, took time, and to bake it? Well, I’ll let you do the math. She knew David was smart enough to figure out that it was God who brought her to him before he reached her home. 2) She said, since God saved David from bloodshed, not having to avenge his own life, let anyone who was to fight with him become foolish like Nabal. What she was really saying was that Nabal was foolish, but David was wise because God favored him.

Verse 27, Abigail offered David her gifts and asked him to distribute among his followers. She was, in her own wise ways, telling David she brought enough for his whole army.

Verse 28, she once again asked for his mercy not because she deserved it but because God favored David to fight His battle. From verse 28 to 29, she prophetically spoke of God’s provision and protection of him and establishing his future reign as king of Israel. She said that he would be securely bound in “bundle of the living by the Lord”. “Bundle”-when I think of bundles I think of many things in one package or deal. Like Time Warner’s cable bundle: you get t.v., internet, and phone for one low monthly price-David would be blessed with many good things as he abided with God: he ended up as king of Israel, Abigail as his wife, and a promise to have his descendents never to descend from the thrown of Israel.

And, anyone who wished to destroy him would be hurled away. He was guaranteed to be safe because he was fighting the Lord’s battle. In verses 30 & 31, she said when God has blessed him with all good things he will have peace knowing that he didn’t kill Nabal, as he reigned over Israel: “my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself…”

Finally, she asked him: “And when the Lord has brought my master success, remember your servant” (v.31b). She gave him one of the most profound and bold speeches of all time. Then, she boldly and humbly asked him to remember her when he became successful.

She’s the only woman recorded for making the longest female speech in the Old Testament. Her speech changed David’s heart of pursuit for Nabal. She overcame his anger with benefits of peace and God’s provision and protection of him and his life as her master and king of Israel. Throughout her speech, she consistently addressed him as her master and herself as his servant. She elegantly crafted her speech to create a sense of intelligence and honor for David in such a way that has turned his heat of anger into peace and calmness. He accepted her gifts and her speech and promised to fulfill her request.

As a woman who desires to show God a fearful heart, I’m in awe of Abigail’s wisdom. She had a discerning heart. God blessed her: He took Nabal away from her and replaced him with David as her husband. She went from living in an abused relationship to living in an honorable one. She became one of the most blessed queens in Biblical time. Her life presented an example of God’s blessing for women who persevere through difficult relationships. I’ve been encouraged by her strength and blessings. I hope you have, too.

For more discussions of Abigail, please visit Rachel’s blog.

Where you Lead Me I will Follow by Mercy Me

Okay, I can't help myself. This song speaks to me. I have to share it with you.

Intriguing video

Well, ladies, I've been catching up with life, but I thought while you wait for my post, I thought you might want to see this video. There are numerous opportunities for us to witness for Christ. Check this video out.